In Time
by Kkwy
Summary: It's useless to dwell on 'whatif's. What's done is done. However, when you're half ghost, this is not always the case. Hiatus.
1. Judgement Day

In Time

By Kkwy

Chapter 1

**After a ghost attack, Samantha Mason and Maddie Fenton are dead. The Halfas make a wish…**

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

"I was dreaming when I wrote this,

Forgive me if it goes astray  
but when I woke up this morning

Could a sworn is was judgment day  
the sky was all a purple

There were people running everywhere  
trying to run from their destruction,

And no I didn't even care  
they say two thousand zero zero

party's over oops out of time  
So tonight I'm gonna party like its 1999  
They say two thousand zero zero,

Party's over oops out of time  
so tonight I'm gonna cry like its 1999."

Prince, 1999

Amity Park-

The battle between ghost and human raged through the night. As the sun rose on that bloody Saturday it appeared to any survivors like Judgment Day had passed and God had proclaimed humans unworthy of heaven.

As the sun rose, the sky took on a shade of brilliant purple, illuminating the faces of the dead.

A single raven-haired boy was kneeling beside the body of his best friend. Sam Mason had died fighting. Daniel Fenton was one of the few people who survived the battle. Like most of them, Danny wished he hadn't.

A few feet away, Vlad Masters stood over the body of the woman he loved. He stared at her with disbelieving eyes. Maddie Fenton was dead. She would never smile again, never laugh at Vlad's attempts to woo her. He would never tell her how he felt for her. Maddie Fenton was dead.

"No…" the Halfas unknowingly muttered in unison.

"If only…" Vlad began.

"I wish…" Danny started.

"I could start over…" Vlad and Danny whispered simultaneously.

Their pleas were overheard by a ghostly woman who watched them with pitying eyes.

"So you wish it, so it shall be."

Vlad and Danny's world swirled away in a barrage of colors. The world held its breath as they were hurled backwards in time.

10:00, Fenton house

"Danny, Jazz, come down here! We are trying out the Fenton Ghost Portal!" called Jack Fenton.

Danny sighed. On his way downstairs he stopped by his sister's room.

"Jazz? Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"Yeah, right, Danny. I have homework to do." Danny shrugged. He continued on his way.

Danny heard his father talk about how the "Fenton Ghost Portal" worked. Danny zoned out. His mother and father were obsessed with ghosts. He and Jazz didn't really believe in them, but who would?

Maddie and Jack Fenton plugged the portal in. They waited… and waited… and waited some more. The couple sighed in disappointment.

"We'll try again tomorrow," suggested Jack. He and Maddie walked upstairs, not noticing their son still hadn't left the lab.

Danny looked the portal over, wondering what went wrong. Not that his parent's inventions usually worked, but he had a weird feeling about this one…

The portal was roughly the size of a van. It was built two meters (six feet) into the wall. The 'frame' was made of iron and the inside looked unnervingly like an eye.

Danny was about to go inside of it, but he remembered the lab suits his parents wore. They supposedly protected a person from ectoplasm (Or getting electrocuted).

He had gotten a suit like that the year before, but he wasn't sure if it still fit. He rummaged through a few drawers until he found it.

It was base white and had a black collar, gloves, belt and boots. His parents forgot about it because it was way too big for him when they first got it. Danny put the suit on.

Walking into the portal, he tripped on something and he fell against the wall. He accidentally hit the "on" button. Electricity surged through his body. Danny Fenton feinted.

Danny groaned. He slowly opened his eyes. Where was he? Then it all came back to him, the suit, the machine, the-

"Damn, was I electrocuted!" demanded the fallen teen. He decided to look in the mirror, the last time he messed with one of his parents inventions his hair turned blonde for a week.

He ran to the mirror, reflected there was a boy with white hair and ghostly green eyes, what's more, his suit had changed colors, where it once was black, it was white, and vise versa.

Danny stared at his reflection with a weird sense of déjà vu. His memories came flooding back. He remembered the woman's whisper. It must have been Desiree. His ghostly eyes sparkled with hope. He had another chance.

Wisconsin-

Vlad Masters sat in his office fingering a picture of Maddie Fenton.

"If you can't love me like a spouse, then you'll love me like a sibling," he sighed, "Better that than nothing, after all."

He picked up the phone on the table beside him.

"Operator? Get me Maddie Fenton."


	2. Wishing and Wisconsin

In Time

By Kkwy

Chapter 2

**After a ghost attack, Samantha Mason and Maddie Fenton are dead. The Halfas make a wish…**

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

**Moonjava : **I'm glad you like it.

**Aki :** Thanks.

**F. : **I agree. Vlad is awesome personified

**Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet**Hey, recognize you! Your stories rock, and so does the Evil Danny Club. Sorry for the long wait!

**Liaranne**: Thank youThe reason it took me so long to update was I wasn't sure I could write another chapter that measured up to the first.

**Kagomechan91** : thanks, kag-chan!

**Last time:**

_"Operator? Get me Maddie Fenton."_

**This Time: **

"We're going WHERE?" Danny exclaimed to his parents.

"Wisconsin!" Jack Fenton yelled happily.

"Dad, we CAN'T go to Wisconsin, what about school?" Jazz pointed out to her excited father.

Jack was silent (for once). He seemed to think about this for a moment before his wife spoke up.

"Don't be silly, sweetie, we're going during Thanksgiving break!"

At this point, Danny left the room.

He lay on his bed and mumbled miserably, "Just great, we're taking vacation time to visit my arch-nemesis!"

_Technically, he's not even your enemy yet. _ His inner voice pointed out.

"He might as well be," Danny answered himself.

_Anyway, I think you're missing the bigger picture here. This didn't happen the first time around._

"Yeah, so?"

_Think about it! Why is it happening now?_

"Because the time stream was changed!" The youngest Fenton realized with a start.

_And Vlad said you were stupid _ His inner voice sarcastically mentioned.

"Shut up!" He hissed.

_Wow, you're yelling at yourself. Do you feel sane?_

All thought of time travel was forgotten as Danny growled in annoyance and thrust a pillow over his head in a vain attempt to silence himself.

**-Wisconsin-**

Vlad Masters sat at his desk, gazing sadly at an old photograph.

"Oh, Maddie, what a fool I've been. In trying to win your love, I only pushed you further away." He sighed sadly. "And Jack, you great idiot. I was supposed to be your friend. You even sacrificed yourself for me, in the end. I'm…sorry."

He paused, as if listening to someone.

"I will NOT get a cat!" he yelled angrily.

**-Casper High, later-**

It was five days to Thanksgiving break, and Danny was getting jumpy.

"What is with you Danny? You're afraid of your own shadow!" exclaimed Sam Mason, one of Danny's best friends.

"It's this Vlad guy-" Danny started.

"The one from Wisconsin?" Tucker Foley, another of Danny's friends asked.

"Yeah, him. He gives me the creeps." Danny complained.

"But you haven't even met him yet." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, but…" Danny shuddered.

Sam sighed. "Danny, relax. It's going to be-" she was cut off when a student ran into her.

"Sam!" Danny called, "Are you ok?"

Sam glared at him as if you say, "Do I look ok!"

Danny smiled nervouslyand helped her to her feet. "Sorry, standard question."

Tucker turned to the other student and helped him up. "You ok, dude?" Tucker asked.

The student nodded, took a big breath, screamed "GHOST!" and proceeded to run away like a bat out of hell.

At the mention of a ghost, Danny's first instinct was to run like hell, and he did so until he remembered a very important thing.

"I'm a Halfa."

_No shit, Sherlock._

Danny ignored the comment and quickly found a bathroom to hide in.

He closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and proclaimed, "I'm Goin' Ghost!"

Two circles of blue light appeared at his waist and separated, each going up his chest and down his legs, respectively, leaving Danny Phantom in their wake.

The fourteen year old hero quickly found the ghostly danger floating around the art hallway.

_Desiree! _

"And they said Jazz was the smart one…" Phantom mumbled.

This was about the time when the previously mentioned ghost realized she had company.

"Who dares disturb my- er, my-"

"Wish-granting rampage?" Phantom offered helpfully.

"YES!" the genie-ghost exclaimed as she attacked the young Halfa.

Phantom tried to create a shield as he was hit by a bolt of ectoplasm (or, "plasma", I guess)

_What? Why-_

"We haven't developed that power yet!" Phantom realized as he resorted to attacking the ghost physically.

Phantom reached for the Fenton thermos, but realized it was nowhere to be found.

_Oh yeah,_ Danny contemplated thoughtfully, _I knew I forgot something_.

Phantom sighed in frustration as he tackled the wishing ghost to the floor and whispered, "I wish you were I the ghost-zone!"

Just as he said this, Desiree was sucked into a vortex, distraught and moaning.

In the confusion of the students and staff of Casper High, Danny easily turned human and slipped into the crowd.

"Tuck, Sam!" Danny called as he pushed through the crowd.

"We're over here, Danny: Sam called from the other side of the corridor.

"Did you SEE that?" Tucker said excitedly to Danny when he caught up with them.

"Yeah, Tuck, I did."

And, if his first ghost battle wasn't enough, Danny finished off the school day getting beat up as he stood in for the guy who usually wore the Casper High Ravens mascot costume.

_Fun_.


	3. As Thanksgiving fast approaches

In Time

By Kkwy

Chapter 3

**After a ghost attack, Samantha Mason and Maddie Fenton are dead. The Halfas make a wish…**

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

**Linkmaste: **Thanks for the review!

**Digidestined7:** Glad you like the story!

**-Fenton Household, 10 minutes until school starts-**

"Danny!" Maddie Fenton called up the stairs to her youngest child, "School starts in ten minutes! Get Up!"

At this, Danny shot out of bed, and, in a routing that could only be achieved with weeks of practice, got dressed, ate breakfast, brushed his teeth, and was out the door in eight minutes flat.

"I wish I could do that," muttered Jazz, wide-eyed at her brother's antics.

**-Casper High, seconds to the bell: 5…4…3…2….-**

In a frantic display of desperation, Danny Fenton skidded to a halt in his first period class just as the late bell rang out.

The Teacher gazed at Danny over the book he was reading and shook his head sadly.

"Kids today…"

Danny, Tucker, and Sam walked out of the classroom loaded with as much homework as they could carry.

"Only Lancer would give us THIS much homework over a vacation!" Sam complained to her friends as they walked to lunch.

"One more day, one more day, one more day..." Danny was chanting to himself.

Tucker looked at him oddly, "What are you doing?" He asked his chanting friend. Danny seemed not to hear him.

Sam answered instead, "He's reminding himself that it's only one more day until the break," She explained. Tucker looked back at Danny, shrugged, and continued walking to their next class.

Sam looked in wonder at the depressed students walking the hallways.

"Wow," Sam mentioned as the trio walked the halls, "Look at these guys! Compared to them, I'm the Goth Bird of Happiness!"

This phrase seemed to trigger a memory in Danny, because after she said this, he quickly excused himself to the bathroom.

"Goin' Ghost!"

Phantom flew through the halls until he found himself at the door to the guidance counselor's office. He hesitantly pushed the door open, and his suspicions were confirmed as he choked on a puff of blue smoke.

To the Halfa's dismay, there stood Spectra in the midst of a long-winded rant to her assistant, Bertrand.

Before the ghosts had a chance to notice the Halfa, Phantom activated his Fenton Thermos, trapping Spectra inside. Unfortunately, this seemed to annoy her ghostly assistant.

"Halfa-!" he hissed as he shifted into the form of a large ghostly bug.

"In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best idea," Phantom mumbled.

_Less talking, more flying!_

Phantom once again gave his full attention to the ghost bug that was flying toward him. The Halfa flew through the wall and landed outside where students were eating lunch.

Phantom looked around desperately for his foe. As a large shadow enveloped him, he glanced upwards to find that the ghost bug had shifted once again into a big green cat. **(With teeth, big sharp teeth!)**

As Phantom lost no time getting out of the cat's way, he noticed what, or, rather who, the cat was about to land on.

Tucker!

Phantom quickly dived down and made his friend intangible before the cat could harm him. Tucker was too scared to notice any of this, and kept his eyes closed in the same desperate hope that made an ostrich hide its head.

By the time Tucker had worked up the nerve to open his eyes, he was in the air, being carried to the school roof and relative safety.

Tucker looked up at his savior and screamed.

"Gah!" Phantom yelped at his friend's outburst, " Calm down, I'm here to help!" Tucker shut his mouth, but continued to stare, wide eyed, at his best friend **(not that he knew that)**.

Phantom set Tucker down on the school roof. Tucker stared at Phantom for a moment, and asked,

"Did it hurt?"

Phantom looked himself over, trying to find the wound his friend spoke of. Not finding anything, he asked,

"What?"

"When you fell down from heaven!" Tucker exclaimed.

_Well, that's an inadequate metaphor if I ever heard one _

Phantom was at a loss for words. (**A/N: I really wanted Tucker to flirt with Phantom. I don't know why. It's purely comic relief, this story is not TuckerxDanny**)

"You- you're gay?" he asked his friend, now thoroughly confused.

"Bisexual, actually. As long as it gets me a date!" Tucker said happily.

Luckily for Phantom, Bertrand chose this time to attack once more in the form of a green ninja.

"Um… bye!" he called to Tucker as he **('He' being Phantom)** flew away.

"The name's Tucker Foley, call me!"

_That was odd…and vaguely disturbing._

Phantom and Bertrand the ninja landed on a lunch table, where the ninla performed an elaborate system of martial arts moves before being sucked into the Fenton Thermos.

_How anti-climactic._

Danny once again shifted into his human self before blending in with the throng of students trying to get away from the ghosts that no one had realized were gone.

_You know, someone's going to realize that no one sees Danny Fenton and Phantom at the same time._

"So what do you propose we do?" Danny hissed to his inner voice.

"_Propose"? Oh, Fenton you ARE learning, aren't you? _**(wow,that sounded like Vlad)**

"That's beside the point!" Danny whispered angrily.

_Right, sorry. Our parent's Ghost catcher could separate us so that people could see Phantom and Fenton together_!

"Remember the last time we did that?"

_I know, but that only happened because we were separated for too long! What if we divided in the morning before school, and combined again before we went to sleep that night?_

"That might not even work."

_Well, we could at least try_.

Danny didn't answer the dejected voice, because Sam was coming towards him, and he didn't particularly want her to think he was talking to himself. **(Which he was)**

"Danny!" Sam called.

"Over here, Sam!" he called back as he made his way towards her.

"Hey, Danny, have you seen Tucker?"

"Uh…" Danny grasped for something to say.

"Tucker!" Sam exclaimed, looking behind Danny, "Where were you!"

Danny turned to look at the techno geek as Tucker sighed happily.

"I think I'm in love," Tucker said dreamily.

"You're 'In Love' every two weeks, Tuck," Danny said monotonously to his friend.

Tucker didn't seem to be listening.

(**Vlad's in the next chapter, I promise! Read and Review, please! Reviews motivate me to update, so when I think no one's reading the story, I don't update.**)


	4. Arrival in Wisconsin

In Time

By Kkwy

Chapter 4

**After a ghost attack, Samantha Mason and Maddie Fenton are dead. The Halfas make a wish…**

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

**Frodo01228**: Sorry you didn't like the twist in chapter 3. By the way, Tucker isn't gay, he's bisexual, and it was (mostly) a joke. In this story, at least, Tucker will not get a boyfriend. Nor will Danny.

Thanks for the reviews from **Digidestined7, animegurl088, **and** Linkmaste**!

For future reference, when you review my stories, try to leave constructive criticism, or, failing that, a review saying what you liked about my story. Also, please refrain from using net-speak in reviews. That means no "plz", "wat" or "$ux". Thank you.

-Chapter 4-

A man in an expensive suit sat in a large arm chair. He stared across the dark room, his eyes landing on the cold stone wall. The man reached into his jacket and withdrew an old, folded photograph. He looked at it sadly for a moment, then replaced it in his pocket and strode out of the room.

"Never again."

-Scene change-

Danny Fenton lay on his back, trying to sleep despite the troubling fact that he and his family were on their way to meet a man who **(For all Danny knew) **wanted to kill his father and steal his family **(read: Mother)**.

"Are we destined to never have a normal family outing?" Jazz asked, annoyed.

Danny winced. This may have been in remembrance of failed family bonding, ruined vacations, or perhaps the speed bump that the RV had just driven over too fast.

Danny sighed and sat up, all hope of sleep lost. As he righted himself, his elbow hit something, hard.

_Why can't my ghost powers ever manifest at a convenient time? _

As a jolt of pain shot through his arm, Danny searched for the offending object.

There, protruding from the wall was an elaborate green-and-chrome telephone. Danny rolled his eyes and asked rhetorically,

"What **don't** we have in the Fenton RV?"

He then picked up the phone and quickly dialed a number, the familiar task honed by repeated practice **(If it isn't clear what I mean, I'm referring to the specific phone number as familiar)**.

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered with an air of arrogance.

_Oh, god…_

"Hi, Mrs. Mason. Is Sam there?" Danny asked, trying to be polite to the woman he referred to in his mind as "the old harpy".

The woman in question made a disapproving sound, then called to her daughter.

"Samantha, dear, the Fenton boy is on the phone!"

"I got it!" Sam yelled back.

"Hello?" she spoke into the receiver.

"Hey Sam."

"Danny? Where are you? Tucker's been trying to reach you!" The gothic girl informed her best friend. "I think he's trying to coerce you into joining his quest to stalk the Ghost Boy." Here she called Danny Phantom by his current alias, provided by the local newspaper.

"Stalk?" Danny exclaimed, alarmed.

_This is sad._

"Yeah. He's been collecting every picture for him he can find. He wants so badly to think the ghost is good," Sam said.

"Y-yeah?" Danny stuttered, "And what do you think?"

_This ought to be good._

"About what? The Ghost Boy?" Sam inquired, "I don't know. But then again, who really does?"

"Uhuh. Well, I'm in the Fenton Family Assault Vehicle."

"You're leaving for Thanksgiving? You never leave for Thanksgiving!" Sam exclaimed at the Halfa.

"My Dad's dragging us on a trip to see one of his collage friends."

Sam scoffed, "Oh **fun**. That almost sounds as fun as **my** Thanksgiving."

Danny smiled knowingly, "She's making you wear the pink dress again?"

Sam grinned as malevolently as any ghost as she said, "Oh, don't worry about that. I'm all over it this year." She held up a pink, fluffy dress that had once looked elegant, but now was ripped in many places and held together with conspicuous black thread and safety pins. "This is one holiday my mother won't soon forget!" The vegetarian vowed.

"Good luck with that," Danny said sincerely, "See you in a few days."

"Bye Danny," San said happily as she hung the phone up.

Upon the Fenton's arrival, the billionaire Vladimir masters met them at the door to his castle.

"Maddie!" the man exclaimed, "Welcome! And you must be Jazzmine and Daniel."

Danny bit back a snide remark.

_Remember, he doesn't know you're a Halfa._

"Hi Mr. Masters." Danny said politely, in just the same tone he used in speaking to Mrs. Mason.

Vlad frowned for a moment, then ushered them inside happily, "Come in, come in!"

Jack opened the door from where it had slammed, inches from his face.

"So, V-Man, have you forgiven me for that accident in collage?" he asked with a grin.

"You mean that accident that ruined my **life**!" Vlad hissed.

"Yeah, that one."

"I suppose I've realized that it wasn't intentional, but I must impress upon you the gravity of the issue. When working with such a dangerous substance as ectoplasm, one must be careful not to become contaminated," he explained, glancing at Danny only once.

_What? What's going on? How- how much did Desiree change?_

A/N: Don't worry, Vlad hasn't completely forgiven Jack, but he no longer wants to kill his and marry his wife either.


	5. Crisis Averted

In Time

By Kkwy

Chapter 5

**After a ghost attack, Samantha Mason and Maddie Fenton are dead. The Halfas make a wish…**

_I don't own Danny Phantom._

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Sorry for the wait…**

-Story-

As his parents and their collage friend spoke animatedly of the "good old days", Danny decided to take his leave.

He slowly rose from his chair and cautiously made his way across the room. As he approached his destination, he kept an eye on the adults and Jazz. Just as he had reached the door, Jazz's eyes locked with his own. Danny winced, and sent his sister a pleading look.

'_Please-!'_ He seemed to say, '_don't-!'_

And, to his surprise and relief, the redhead gave her brother a small nod, and gave him the _look_. Jazz understood that Danny wanted to leave, and not to be seen. She would assist him in this, asking no questions, but knowing that the favor would be repaid, eventually. And for this, Danny was grateful.

Jazz immersed herself in the conversation taking place between her parents and Masters. She bided her time, picked a moment, and drew attention to herself with a well-placed question. This effectively caused the adults to turn their back on Danny, and allow him to slip outside unnoticed.

Now, you would think that it would hardly be worth the trouble to escape Mr. Masters' receiving room, but Danny knew otherwise. He needed to be alone, not to give Masters a chance to stop him. Hopefully, by the time he was missed, his mission would be done.

As Danny wandered further into the depths of Vlad's castle, he began to have second thoughts.

"Where _is_ it?" He demanded in exasperation.

_Well, not here._

"Wow, really? Thanks for the input!" Danny snarled.

_Easy, Fenton. Don't bite my head off!_

…

_Figuratively, of course._

"I don't know why I bother," Danny grumbled, "Vlad must have hidden his portal pretty well."

_That cheese head? Knowing him, it's probably hidden behind a giant football._

"Well, I don't see a giant football!" Danny muttered irritably.

_Calm down!_ The voice demanded_. Let me handle it._

"You think you could find it?" Asked the youngest Fenton, unconvinced.

_I _know_ I could find it._

Danny snorted at the overconfidence of the voice, but relented.

Two white rings materialized around the boy, shifting him into his ghostly counterpart, Danny Phantom.

The Halfa hovered silently for a moment, as if he was straining for a soft sound, or something difficult to see. Suddenly, he was off. He flew through walls and furniture, fixated on the energy emitted by Vlad's Ghost Portal.

**(Scene Change)**

"This is it," the green-eyed ghost boy breathed.

A huge and elaborate gateway spread before him. The large doors were closed shut.

"It's closed," Phantom said in relief, "So it'll be that much easier."

He flew up and around the portal, looking for an "off" switch.

_Maybe it's a big red button labeled "off"?_

"You watch too much TV."

_I _wish_ I had that kind of time._

As he continued to search, a familiar ghost floated through the wall.

"What 'cha doin' there, young Halfa?" The Dairy king asked from behind the floating ghost boy.

Startled by the sudden noise, Phantom jumped, causing him to hit his head and subsequently "Go Human".

"Dairy King!" Danny yelled in surprise.

_Ouch…._

"Hey, I'm looking for the power switch on this thing," he gestured toward the portal, "Think you can help me?"

The older ghost thought a moment, and said, "Well, this-here portal doesn't have a power switch, don't-cha-know. You gotta' do this," Here he floated over to the massive gateway and connected two wires.

As soon as this was done, the portal sprung to life. The wires crackled with energy as power was restored to the portal. A ghostly energy was radiated from it, casting green, distorted shadows on the walls. The large, ornate doors slid seamlessly into the frame, revealing the abyss of the Ghost Zone.

Danny stared in horror at the green, swirling vortex.

"The portal… It was off."

_Well, shit._


End file.
